Some Elephants Are Getting Too Much Plastic in Their Diets
In
India, the large mammals see trash in village dumps as a buffet, but
researchers found they are inadvertently consuming packaging and
utensils.
An
Asian elephant feeding in Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, India.
The animals have a penchant for eating garbage, which has led to an
increase of consuming plastic.Credit...Danita Delimont Creative/Alamy
By Joshua Rapp Learn
Some
Asian elephants are a little shy about their eating habits. They sneak
into dumps near human settlements at the edges of their forest habitats
and quickly gobble up garbage — plastic utensils, packaging and all. But
their guilty pleasure for fast food is traveling with them — elephants
are transporting plastic and other human garbage deep into forests in
parts of India.
“When they defecate,
the plastic comes out of the dung and gets deposited in the forest,”
said Gitanjali Katlam, an ecological researcher in India.
While a lot of research has been conducted on the spread of plastics from human pollution into the world’s oceans and seas, considerably less is known about how such waste moves with wildlife on land. But elephants are important seed dispersers, and research published this month in the Journal for Nature Conservation
shows that the same process that keeps ecosystems functioning might
carry human-made pollutants into national parks and other wild areas.
This plastic could have negative effects on the health of elephants and
other species that have consumed the material once it has passed through
the large mammals’ digestive systems.
Dr.
Katlam first noticed elephants feeding on garbage on trail cameras
during her Ph.D. work at Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was studying
which animals visited garbage dumps at the edge of villages in northern
India. At the time, she and her colleagues also noticed plastic in the
elephants’ dung. With the Nature Science Initiative,
a nonprofit focused on ecological research in northern India, Dr.
Katlam and her colleagues collected elephant dung in Uttarakhand state.
The
researchers found plastic in all of the dung near village dumps and in
the forest near the town of Kotdwar. They walked only a mile or two into
the forest in their search for dung, but the elephants probably carried
the plastic much farther, Dr. Katlam said. Asian elephants take about
50 hours to pass food and can walk six miles to 12 miles in a day. In
the case of Kotdwar, this is concerning because the town is only a few
miles from a national park.
“This adds
evidence to the fact that plastic pollution is ubiquitous,” said
Agustina Malizia, an independent researcher with the National Scientific
and Technical Research Council of Argentina who was not involved in
this research but studied the effects of plastic on land ecosystems.
She says the study is “extremely necessary,” as it might be one of the
first reports of a very large land animal ingesting plastic.
Plastic
comprised 85 percent of the waste found in the elephant dung from
Kotdwar. The bulk of this came from food containers and cutlery,
followed by plastic bags and packaging. But the researchers also found
glass, rubber, fabric and other waste. Dr. Katlam said the elephants
were likely to have been seeking out containers and plastic bags because
they still had leftover food inside. The utensils probably were eaten
in the process.
While trash passes
through their digestive systems, the elephants may be ingesting
chemicals like polystyrene, polyethylene, bisphenol A and phthalates. It
is uncertain what damage these substances can cause, but Dr. Katlam
worries that they may contribute to declines in elephant population
numbers and survival rates.
“It is
known from other animals that their stomachs may get filled with
plastics, causing mechanical damage,” said Carolina Monmany Garzia, who
works with Dr. Malizia in Argentina and was not involved in Dr. Katlam’s
study.
Other
animals may consume the plastic again once it is transported into the
forest through the elephants’ dung. “It has a cascading effect,” Dr.
Katlam said.
Dr. Katlam said that
governments in India should take steps to manage their solid waste to
avoid these kinds of issues. But individuals can help, too, by
separating their food waste from the containers so that plastic does not
end up getting eaten so much by accident.
“This is a very simple step, but a very important step,” she said.
“We
need to realize and understand how the overuse of plastics is affecting
the environment and the organisms that inhabit them,” Dr. Mealizia
said.
24 May 2022
– Today marks three months since Russia launched a full-scale military
invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of civilians have been killed or injured
in attacks by Russian forces who stand accused of war crimes, including
summary executions, torture, and rape. At least seven journalists have
lost their lives while covering the war. Over 14 million people have
been displaced, with six million having fled Ukraine to other countries.
The PEN Community utterly condemns the violence unleashed by Russian
forces against Ukraine and urgently calls for an end to the bloodshed.
In
solidarity with all those affected by the war in Ukraine, PEN
International and PEN Ukraine are publishing 20 quotes by Ukrainian
writers and members of PEN Ukraine, who reflect on the horrific events
of recent weeks.
‘Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought
destruction, atrocities, and deaths on an unimaginable scale. With this
action, we reiterate our solidarity with our friends at PEN Ukraine and
all those affected by the war. The Russian authorities must end their
senseless war at once, and those responsible for human rights
violations, including war crimes, must be brought to justice.’ Burhan Sonmez, PEN International president.
Shut
all of your home's windows and doors to the outside except for one
window on your home's top floor. The window should be in the farthest
possible corner that faces south. Close all other window blinds,
curtains or drapes to prevent the hot summer sun from overheating your
home.
Position a box fan in the opened window. The fan should face the outside as this will help suck hot air from the home. If you do not own a box fan, simply keep the window open. The method will still work, albeit a little slower, without the fan.
Open
a basement window in the farthest opposite, or north, corner of your
home to cool the entire house. This home-cooling method is referred to
as stack or convective ventilation. In this system, a window opening in
the lower part of the home brings air into the home, which becomes cool
from basement temperatures, while an opening on the upper floor pulls
hot air out.
Keep your basement door open to easily allow cool air to enter the rest of the house.
Install a ceiling fan
near your basement entrance, such as in the kitchen near your basement
doorway, to promote circulation of basement air into the rest of the
home.
Have
a professional contractor install a cold air return gadget in your
basement. This tool promotes cool air circulation through duct work and
other house "passageways."
Use weatherstripping and caulk to prevent hot air from seeping into the home through cracks and crevices.
Plant bushy trees and bushes around the home to keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Place heat-reflecting film on sun-facing windows.
Cool a floor of your home by opening windows at opposite ends, which is referred to as "cross ventilation."
As
soon as the sun rises, window shades should come down. Window glass is
“one of the weakest links” in a building’s defense against solar
radiation, Rempel said, because it readily transmits heat. The best way
to prevent this is to install exterior window coverings, like shutters
or retractable awnings. If those aren’t an option, inside curtains or
blinds are a good alternative. You can even cover a piece of cardboard
in aluminum foil and press it into the window frame.
Having
vegetation around your building can prevent the walls from heating up
as well. Trees not only provide shade, they can bring down the
surrounding air temperature through a process called evaporative cooling.
As leaves release water into the air, energy is used to turn the liquid
into vapor — which means it doesn’t go into heating up the environment.
The same phenomenon explains why sweating helps cool you off.
I do a lot of writing and note-taking on trips: in airports, on airplanes, on trains. I recommend taking public transportation whenever possible. There are many good reasons to do this (one’s carbon footprint, safety, productive use of time, support of public transportation, etc.), but for a writer, here are two in particular: 1) you will write a good deal more waiting for a bus or sitting on a train than you will driving a car, or as a passenger in a car; and (2) you will be thrown in with strangers—people not of your choosing. Although I pass strangers when I’m walking on a city street, it is only while traveling on public transportation that I sit thigh to thigh with them on a subway, stare at the back of their heads waiting in line, and overhear sometimes extended conversations. It takes me out of my own limited, chosen world. Sometimes I have good, enlightening conversations with them.
The revelation of modern drama is that you can apply the Aristotelian unities to…a very, very small
human interchange.… It [doesn’t] have to be about conquering France. It
can be about who did or did not turn on the gas on the stove. David Mamet
Dan
Saltzstein, an editor at the paper, was poking in the archives in the
early aughts when he found an obituary for a man he didn’t know: Mike
Saltzstein. So began a 20-year investigation.
Any thin rod with a sharp end — whether it’s the swords of Turkish
soldiers cooking their suppers on the battlefield (an oft-told tale,
reflecting how the “shish” in “shish kebab” means “sword” or “skewer”),
or tree branches foraged at campsites and destined for hot dogs — can be
used as a skewer.
Leaving
a little space (about ¼ inch) between the chunks will help brown things
more thoroughly and encourage crisp edges. This is especially helpful
for vegetables that need to release a lot of moisture as they grill such
as eggplant, zucchini and onions.
On
the flip side, for fish, chicken breasts and other ingredients that have
a tendency to dry out, pressing the cubes together insulates them
slightly, helping retain their juices.
Bigger
chunks, irregularly shaped ingredients like shrimp or delicate things
such as tofu can benefit from using two parallel skewers, which keep the
tidbits from rotating when turning.
When I listen to music there is nothing I might not do, when I feel the spring there is nothing I might not do. But also, when I am bursting with creation there is nothing I might not write. This is what I feel this morning.
I just mowed my mini lawn 20 by 20 square feet of yard. Now that the wheat fields are mowed, it's a perfect shady spot under our beloved red maple tree. We have a blue plastic kiddy pool for Romeo-dog and a bright orange battery-operated mower that lives indoors under a 1940's enamel kitchen table. I always did want to live like the fictional Mrs. Pepperpot!
There are many natural wonders in the Bay
State, but some are overcrowded and, frankly, a bit overrated. Lake
Massapoag is an underrated natural lake hiding in the town of Sharon
with some of the cleanest water in Massachusetts. While sitting beside
this 353-acre body of water is relaxing in itself, this is also a
wonderful spot for fishing, swimming, sailing, ice fishing, and so much
more. The small beach is a great way to stick your toes in the sand
without having to visit a popular spot, or to escape into nature when
the temperature drops. No matter what time of year it is, Lake Massapoag
is a hidden gem worth finding in Massachusetts.
3 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1 cup buttermilk
For the Topping
1 tablespoon grated orange or lemon zest 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted, for brushing 1/4 cup sugar 4 tablespoons jam or jelly (optional) 4 tablespoons diced plump dried fruits, such as currants, raisins, apricots, or figs (optional)
Makes 12 triangular or 24 rolled scones
Position
racks to divide oven into thirds and preheat to 425°F. Stir flour,
sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together with a fork. Add
butter pieces and work it into the dry ingredients until mixture
resembles coarse cornmeal. Pour in 1 cup buttermilk and the zest, and
mix until ingredients are just moistened. If dough looks dry, add
another tablespoon buttermilk. Gather dough into a ball, turn it onto a
lightly floured work surface, and knead briefly. Cut dough in half.
To
Make Triangular-Shaped Scones, roll one piece of dough into a
1/2-inch-thick circle that is 7 inches across. Brush the dough with
half of the melted butter, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar, and cut
the circle into 6 triangles. Place the scones on an ungreased baking
sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
To Make Rolled Scones,
roll one piece of dough into a 12 inch long and 1/2 inch thick strip.
Spread with half of the melted butter and dust with half of the sugar.
Either spread the roll with jam or sprinkle it with dried fruits; leave a
narrow border on a long edge bare. Roll the strip up from a long side
like a jelly roll; pinch seam closed and turn seam side down. Cut the
roll in half and cut each piece into six 1-inch-wide roll-ups. Place
cut side down on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving a little space
between each. Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake scones 10 minutes or until both tops and bottoms are golden. Transfer to a rack to cool.
I was walking downtown and ran into a fellow who was in my Citizens Academy class 2
years ago. We have chatted half a dozen times bumping into each other on walks.
Now he's working as a security guard at the local hospital. He told me about the traumas he sees in a
day. I suggested he keep a journal to get it out so he can prevent PTSD and sleep better.
We have to write reports anyway, he said.
This can only help.
The other day he was driving by and shouted out to me as I was walking my dog, I'm keeping a
notebook!
I dreamed I was in T's house climbing the interior stairs. A blonde
lady realtor was leading the way. A thief was breaking the foyer window
of her front door using a chisel. I said, call the police!
We go round the wheel and each time we learn something new. I am 61 so I
have had zillions of mood cycles and I am still learning and growing.
Lately with my strict swim/sleep schedule for 2 years, the mood cycle seems
more subtle, almost (but not quite) irrelevant, because my body has been
changed by a behavioral habit. A non-negotiable habit.
If we can train to strengthen our muscles we can train to strengthen our behaviors in spite of moods and emotions. Think of it as behavior training. Habit is the muse!
Writing is something you do alone. It’s a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it. John Green
Virtually any food can be frozen,
extending the life of most leftovers or raw ingredients to use at a
later date. If an item’s texture is going to change once thawed – think
of fresh veggies, which can be tossed into the freezer
raw if they’re getting limp or wrinkly – they can be used in soups,
stews, chilies, curries and other cooked dishes. Similarly, the fat in
dairy products might separate once thawed, but though milk and yogurt
may not look as appetizing, they’re perfectly fine and still perfect for
pancakes, baked goods, smoothies and the like.
I am full of distraction because even though I washed my new thrift-store khakis I can still smell the soap of the
previous owner. Too perfumey! I have a hound dog's nose. It's true. I
am a bloodhound.
I heated up my herb tea in the rescued microwave. Today was the first
time I used it. I rescued it in February from a snowy sidewalk when walking my dog one night. The neighbors told me the people were moving and left it behind. It works! It's clean! Today I plugged it in up in the third floor and it too gave off a scent of someone else's life.
Last night I saw 1/3 of this image on twitter https://portlandreview.org/ghazal-for-my-mother/.
I recognized the artist even with the heads and feet of the characters cut off. I knew it was an
Arshile Gorky painting. How did my
brain remember a random portion of this image? Perhaps my step-father was right when he called me eagle eye. I used to find a record for him out of his record collection in seconds, by just glancing at the spines.
Right now I am distracted by the decongestant which helps tame my allergies but there's a side effect: it feels like shooting stars in my gums and a washing machine agitating clothes in my abdomen.
“I despise my own nation most. Because I know it best. Because I
still love it, suffering from Hope. For me, that's patriotism.”
―
Edward Abbey,
The Serpents of Paradise: A Reader
“The ugliest thing in America is greed, the lust for power and
domination, the lunatic ideology of perpetual Growth - with a capital G.
'Progress' in our nation has for too long been confused with 'Growth'; I
see the two as different, almost incompatible, since progress means, or
should mean, change for the better - toward social justice, a livable
and open world, equal opportunity and affirmative action for all forms
of life. And I mean all forms, not merely the human. The grizzly, the
wolf, the rattlesnake, the condor, the coyote, the crocodile, whatever,
each and every species has as much right to be here as we do.”
―
Edward Abbey,
Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast
“Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter.”
―
Edward Abbey,
Confessions of a Barbarian
“No more cars in national parks. Let the people walk. Or ride
horses, bicycles, mules, wild pigs--anything--but keep the automobiles
and the motorcycles and all their motorized relatives out. We have
agreed not to drive our automobiles into cathedrals, concert halls, art
museums, legislative assemblies, private bedrooms and the other sanctums
of our culture; we should treat our national parks with the same
deference, for they, too, are holy places. An increasingly pagan and
hedonistic people (thank God!), we are learning finally that the forests
and mountains and desert canyons are holier than our churches.
Therefore let us behave accordingly.”
―
Edward Abbey,
Desert Solitaire
“The fire. The odor of burning juniper is the sweetest fragrance
on the face of the earth, in my honest judgment; I doubt if all the
smoking censers of Dante's paradise could equal it. One breath of
juniper smoke, like the perfume of sagebrush after rain, evokes in
magical catalysis, like certain music, the space and light and clarity
and piercing strangeness of the American West. Long may it burn.”
―
Edward Abbey,
Desert Solitaire
“I am not an atheist but an earthiest. Be true to the earth.”
―
Edward Abbey
“If people persist in trespassing upon the grizzlies' territory,
we must accept the fact that the grizzlies, from time to time, will
harvest a few trespassers.”
―
Edward Abbey
“Abolition of a woman's right to abortion, when and if she wants
it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State.”
―
Edward Abbey
How to Overthrow the System: brew your own beer; kick in your Tee
Vee; kill your own beef; build your own cabin and piss off the front
porch whenever you bloody well feel like it. ―
Edward Abbey
“A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without
ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and
right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set
foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to set foot
in it. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope;
without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or
drugs or psychoanalysis.”
“There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many,
but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form
of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life.
Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who's
always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much
bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details.
The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is
annihilated. … To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you
ask me.”
―
Edward Abbey
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”
―
Edward Abbey
“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I
am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted
fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure
and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more
important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out
there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out
yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run
the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly
for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely,
mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your
head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and
alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory
over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts
in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I
promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”
―
Edward Abbey
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”
―
Edward Abbey
“Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.”
―
Edward Abbey
“Benedicto: May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome,
dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise
into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering
through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles
and poets towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and
monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a
desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottoes of
endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm
where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across
the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs
upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more
full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you -- beyond that
next turning of the canyon walls.”
―
Edward Abbey
“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit,
and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which
destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is
cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of
civilization itself.”
―
Edward Abbey,
Desert Solitaire
“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel
more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a
hundred miles.”
―
Edward Abbey,
Desert Solitaire
“You can't study the darkness by flooding it with light.”
―
Edward Abbey,
The Best of Edward Abbey
It is my belief that the writer, the free-lance author, should be and must be a critic of the society in which he lives. It is easy enough, and always profitable, to rail away at national enemies beyond the sea, at foreign powers beyond our borders who question the prevailing order. But the moral duty of the free writer is to begin his work at home; to be a critic of his own community, his own country, his own culture. If the writer is unwilling to fill this part, then the writer should abandon pretense and find another line of work: become a shoe repairman, a brain surgeon, a janitor, a cowboy, a nuclear physicist, a bus driver.
I like to make a marinade for veggies. I chop the veggies into one or two inch pieces and place them in a homemade honey mustard (or anything you wish but not creamy) marinade for overnight or at least an hour or so.
(olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, honey, basil, oregano, garlic.)
Then we prepare hardwood grill.
I have flat stainless skewers I bought one end of summer sale at Joblot. They are excellent because they don't burn or roll. You can also marinate chicken and cook it the same way.
“It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't
let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy
and have a good life without being like everybody else.”
―
John Waters
“You should never read just for "enjoyment." Read to make yourself
smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends' insane
behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick "hard books." Ones you have to
concentrate on while reading. And for god's sake, don't let me ever hear
you say, "I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth."
Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of "literature"? That means
fiction, too, stupid.”
―
John Waters,
Role Models
“Collect books, even if you don't plan on reading them right away. Nothing is more important than an unread library.”
―
John Waters
“Life is nothing if you're not obsessed.”
―
John Waters
“I've had it with being nice, understanding, fair and hopeful. I
feel like being negative all day. The chip on my shoulder could sink the
QE2. I've got an attitude problem and nobody better get in my way...I'm
in a bad mood and the whole stupid little world is gonna pay!”
―
John Waters,
Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters
“I'm always amazed at friends who say they try to read at night in
bed but always end up falling asleep. I have the opposite problem. If a
book is good I can't go to sleep, and stay up way past my bedtime,
hooked on the writing. Is anything better than waking up after a
late-night read and diving right back into the plot before you even get
out of bed to brush your teeth?”
―
John Waters,
Role Models
“You have to remember that it is impossible to commit a crime while reading a book.”
―
John Waters
“True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.”
―
John Waters,
Role Models
“I always wanted to be a juvenile delinquent but my parents wouldn't let me.”
―
John Waters
“We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em! Don’t sleep with people who don’t read!”
―
John Waters
“Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.”
―
John Waters,
Role Models
“Contemporary art hates you.”
―
John Waters
“The only insult I've ever received in my adult life was when
someone asked me, "Do you have a hobby?" A HOBBY?! DO I LOOK LIKE A
FUCKING DABBLER?!”
―
John Waters,
Role Models
“I could never kill myself. I approve of suicide if you have horrible health. Otherwise it's the ultimate hissy fit.”
―
John Waters
“My idea of an interesting person is someone who is quite proud of
their seemingly abnormal life and turns their disadvantage into a
career.”
―
John Waters,
Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste
“You don’t need fashion designers when you are young. Have faith
in your own bad taste. Buy the cheapest thing in your local thrift shop -
the clothes that are freshly out of style with even the hippest people a
few years older than you. Get on the fashion nerves of your peers, not
your parents - that is the key to fashion leadership. Ill-fitting is
always stylish. But be more creative - wear your clothes inside out,
backward, upside down. Throw bleach in a load of colored laundry. Follow
the exact opposite of the dry cleaning instructions inside the clothes
that cost the most in your thrift shop. Don’t wear jewelry - stick
Band-Aids on your wrists or make a necklace out of them. Wear Scotch
tape on the side of your face like a bad face-lift attempt. Mismatch
your shoes. Best yet, do as Mink Stole used to do: go to the thrift
store the day after Halloween, when the children’s trick-or-treat
costumes are on sale, buy one, and wear it as your uniform of defiance.”
―
John Waters,
Role Models
“I respect everything I make fun of.”
―
John Waters
“My favourite characters are people who think they’re normal but
they’re not. I live in Baltimore, and it’s full of people like that.
I’ve also lived in New York, which is full of people who think they’re
crazy, but they’re completely normal. I get my best material in
Baltimore – you get dialogue that you just couldn’t imagine. I asked
this guy in a bar what he did for a living and he said he traded deer
meat for crack. I never realised that job even existed. You could make a
whole movie about that person. And he was kind of cute too, if you
could ignore his eyes rolling around his head. Although I did crack
once, accidentally, and I thought: Oh my God, what, am I gonna rob my
parents now? I prefer poppers – they’re legal in London, right? I used
to do them on roller coasters. They’re illegal in Provincetown, which is
the gay fishing village where I live in the summer. In the airport
there are signs warning you to get rid of your poppers.”
―
John Waters
“I would never want to live anywhere but Baltimore. You can look
far and wide, but you'll never discover a stranger city with such
extreme style. It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move
north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay.”
―
John Waters,
Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste
“Who's to blame when your kid goes nuts? Is it a blessing to not
have children? 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' became a hit cult book for
women without offspring who were finally able to admit they didn't want
to give birth. They felt complete, thank you very much, and lived in
silent resentment for years at other women's pious, unwanted sympathy
toward them for not having babies. With even gay couples having children
these days, aren't happy heterosexual women who don't want to have kids
the most ostracized of us all? To me they are beautiful feminists. If
you're not sure you could love your children, please don't have them,
because they might grow up and kill us.”
―
John Waters
“Catholics have more extreme sex lives because they're taught that
pleasure is bad for you. Who thinks it's normal to kneel down to a
naked man who's nailed to a cross? It's like a bad leather bar.”
―
John Waters
“[W]hat I like best is staying home and reading. Being rich is not
about how many homes you own. It’s the freedom to pick up any book you
want without looking at the price and wondering whether you can afford
it.”
―
John Waters
“My hobby is extreme Catholic behavior -- BEFORE the Reformation.”
―
John Waters
“I don't mind exercise but it's a private activity. Joggers should
run in a wheel - like hamsters - because I don't want to look at them.
And I really hate people who go on an airplane in jogging outfits.
That's a major offense today, even bigger than Spandex bicycle pants.
You see eighty-year-old women coming on the plane in jogging outfits for
comfort. Well my comfort - my mental comfort - is completely ruined
when I see them coming. You're on an airplane, not in your bedroom, so
please! And I really hate walkathons: blocking traffic, people patting
themselves on the back. The whole attitude offends me. They have this
smug look on their faces as they hold you up in traffic so that they can
give two cents to some charity.”
―
John Waters
“Not wanting anyone to pop my bubble by speaking to me, I
immediately began reading Lesbian Nuns, and that did the trick. No one
attempted small talk.”
―
John Waters,
Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters
“Remember: you must participate in the creative world you want to become part of.”
―
John Waters,
Make Trouble
“Hairspray is the only really devious movie I ever made. The
musical based on it is now being performed in practically every high
school in America—and nobody seems to notice it’s a show with two men
singing a love song to each other that also encourages white teen girls
to date black guys. Pink Flamingos was preaching to the converted. But
Hairspray is a Trojan horse: it snuck into Middle America and never got
caught. You can do the same thing.”
―
John Waters,
Make Trouble
“Nobody likes a bore on a soapbox. Humor is always the best
defense and weapon. If you can make an idiot laugh, they’ll at least
pause and listen before they do something stupid . . . to you.”
―
John Waters,
Make Trouble
“Listen to your political enemies, especially the smart ones, and then figure out a way to make them laugh.”
―
John Waters,
Make Trouble
“You need to prepare sneak attacks on society,”
―
John Waters,
Make Trouble
Manic Depression was established as a diagnosable illness thanks to the
work of French psychiatrist Jean-Pierre Falret. In the early 1850s,
Falret identified folie circulaire or “circular insanity”.
Patients who were grappling with agitation or euphoria, the ancient
Greeks and Romans used the waters of spas in northern Italy. They
believed this water was helpful in treating mania and melancholia
because it contained lithium salts that, as naturally occurring
minerals, were absorbed into the body.
They were right. And, in 1949, Australian physician John Cade
introduced lithium to psychiatry. It continues to be used and studied
extensively to this day.
After focus, the next most important thing for a novelist is, hands down, endurance. If you concentrate on writing three or four hours a day and feel tired after a week of this, you’re not going to be able to write a long work. What’s needed for a writer of fiction—at least one who hopes to write a novel—is the energy to focus every day for half a year, or a year, or two years. You can compare it to breathing.
When you write a book, you need to have more than an interesting story. You need to have a desire to tell the story. You need to be personally invested in some way. Malcom Gladwell
I didn’t see myself as a battered wife. I was a strong, smart,
independent woman in love with a deeply troubled man. I told myself he
needed these guns to feel safe, after all he’d suffered as an abused
child. I thought I was the only person on earth who could help him stare
down his childhood demons. I thought I could take it.
My most beautiful friend, a grandmother in her late 70s, hates bathing
suits so passionately that she only swims naked. Mostly late at night in
private pools. Occasionally in a deserted lake. She says she’s too old
to endure the torture devices designed to deprive older women of the
simple joys of swimming, frolicking and enjoying our birthrights — the
bodies that nature gave us.
I’m trying in all my stories to get the feeling of the actual life across—not to just depict life—or criticize it—but to actually make it alive. So that when you have read something by me you actually experience the thing. You can’t do this without putting in the bad and the ugly as well as what is beautiful. Because if it is all beautiful you can’t believe in it. Things aren’t that way.
I think there’s always a certain amount of invisibility when you write.
You’re alone in a room, no one is looking over your shoulder. When I was
young, writing was the one invisible space I had, and it made me very
happy because I could become invisible while writing. I still
feel this way, except there’s much less of a difference between my
inner, creative life and my outer life than when I was young. And that’s
a joyful thing!
Poems are my inner life, take it or leave it. I don’t particularly care
what the reader thinks because I’m just not invested in other people’s
responses to my inner life.
None of the five of us attended our own graduations knowing our parents wouldn't attend. I think about that every year as I see the graduation celebrations happening in the papers and at the restaurant on my street. The attention was not allowed to be taken off of the King and Queen. Not even for a split second!
The tragedy is that my siblings now in their 50's 60's 70's, are still running around like chickens with their heads chopped off trying to please invisible ghosts.
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
―
Leo Tolstoy
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
―
Leo Tolstoy ,
Anna Karenina
“If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.”
―
Leo Tolstoy,
Anna Karenina
“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”
―
Leo Tolstoy,
The Kreutzer Sonata
“I think... if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.”
―
Leo Tolstoy,
Anna Karenina
“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were
the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
―
Leo Tolstoy,
Anna Karenina
“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.”
―
Leo Tolstoy,
Anna Karenina
“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.”
―
Leo Tolstoy,
War and Peace
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
Crime and Punishment
“I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.”
―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
The Brothers Karamazov
“It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
The Idiot
“To love is to suffer and there can be no love otherwise.”
―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Notes from Underground
“If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to
respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel
others to respect you.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
The Insulted and Humiliated
Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually
immeasurably more complex and varied than our subsequent explanations of
them. ―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
The Idiot
“Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
“To love someone means to see them as God intended them.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“Man
is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your whole
life unravelling it, don't say that you've wasted time. I am studying
that mystery because I want to be a human being.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Right or wrong, it's very pleasant to break something from time to time.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
“I
can see the sun, but even if I cannot see the sun, I know that it
exists. And to know that the sun is there - that is living.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“The
awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and
the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering...” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
“If
you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man, don't
bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, of
seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you will get better results
if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Beauty will save the world” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot
“You can be sincere and still be stupid.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky
Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and
listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the
truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself
and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence
and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great
sadness on earth.”
―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Crime and Punishment
“To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.”
―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Crime and Punishment
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”
―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
The Brothers Karamazov
“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”
―
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Notes from Underground
“I love mankind, he said, "but I find to my amazement that the
more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
The Brothers Karamazov
“We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin
to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a
word has been spoken.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
Crime and Punishment
“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but
that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be
so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.”
―
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
Crime and Punishment
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